After failing to get a soda tax passed in Albany, or to convince federal lawmakers to prohibit food-stamp recipients from purchasing sugary drinks, Michael Bloomberg announced a plan to ban large-size sweetened beverages from being sold in New York City.

He told the Times: "I don't think you can make the case that we're taking things away," since customers will still be able to buy multiple sugary drinks in smaller sizes.

A Wall Street Journal story notes that Bloomberg's plan, which would take the form of an amendment to the city's health code, would only have to be approved by the Board of Health, which he controls. The amendment wouldn't require a vote from the City Council.

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12:30 p.m. Christine Quinn discusses resolutions in support of the federal Farm Bill and a state bill to reform the Rent Guidelines Board at City Hall.

City Council agenda

-Gale Brewer's resolution for state lawmakers to "to modernize and streamline the procedures for the election night canvass and the reporting of unofficial election results"

-David Greenfield's bill to require every bicyclists wear a helmet

-Robert Jackson's resolution to support federal legislation to prevent the student loan interest rate of 3.4 recent from doubling in July

-Jessica Lappin's resolution "calling upon employers in New York City to hire more workers over 55 years of age"

-Melissa Mark-Viverito's bill "making police data machine-readable"

-Diana Reyna's resolution for state lawmakers "to change from mayoral control to municipal control" of city public schools

Quinnipiac poll of New York voters

56-31, Obama leads Romney among voters

43-33, Obama leads Romney among independent voters

46-41, Obama leads Romney among white voters

36-51, Obama trails Romney among Catholic voters

2012

"Too Much Power for a President": Obama, like other presidents, should be required to get "the consent of someone outside his political inner circle" before authorizing the killing of American citizens and suspected terrorists on the "enemy kill list." [New York Times]

John Liu's audit accused Hewlett-Packard of overcharging the city by millions of dollars for upgrading the 911 emergency-call system. He forwarded his findings to the Manhattan district attorney. [David Chen]

About 225 school employees, mostly members of DC37, could be laid off, according to schools chancellor Dennis Walcott. [Grace Rauh]

A new law signed by Bloomberg could create a secondary market for unused time on muni-meters. [Matt Flegheimer]

NYPD

The NYPD's stop-and-frisk policy "makes black boys grow up thinking of white people as a menace." [John McWhorter]

A retiring NYPD officer argues that the AP description of the Muslim surveillance program was wildly inaccurate, because some officers were "plainclothes officers" not "undercover officers," supposed "mosque crawlers" didn't enter mosques, and "observation reports" were retained, rather than reports on specific people. [Mitchell Silber]

"The AP didn't come within a long mile of documenting a single case in which the NYPD snooped on anyone or any group in violation of any law, regulation or constitutional principle." [Daily News]

Flashback: AP reporter Matt Apuzzo said back in February that he never approached it as a legal issue. [Capital]

The Economy

"Job Polarization": Although 228,000 were regained in New York City, there are fewer "middle-skilled positions." [Lauren Weber]

Transportation

The M.T.A. will allow turbans, yarmulkes and other religious headdresses to be worn, but only if they are "plain, solid navy blue." [Ted Mann]

Lee Saunders on Tier 6: "We think it was grossly unfair, what the governor did, what he proposed. We still disagree with that. We will always disagree with that." [Inside City Hall]

On Television

John Heilemann: "New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada. The president wins all those states, and he holds onto Viginia, which has about 10 percent Latinos and a growing economy…he can lose Florida, North Carolina, Ohio, Iowa, New Hampshire and he still gets to 270." [Inside City Hall]

Steve Hayes on Trump: "He's a clown. He's always been a clown. He doesn't make arguments. He doesn't know what he's talking about half the time." [Fox News]

CNN talks to a Republican health official who has "no doubt" Obama was born in Hawaii. [Gary Tuchman]

"Fox and Friends" twice aired a nearly four-minute video yesterday "that looked similar to a campaign advertisement" and later took it down from their web site. [Associated Press]

From Capital

"As Cuomo knows, people are willing to pay for the pleasure of defacing the 'I ♥ NY' logo. He didn't need to pay $5 million for the indignity." [Tom McGeveran]

Blame China? Bloomberg said America should look in the mirror. [Dan Rosenblum]

John Liu elaborated on his critical audit of Hewlett-Packard, which he began leaking last week. [Dana Rubinstein]

Kirsten Gillibrand's numbers are solid, and her Republican rivals are pretty much unknown. [Reid Pillifant]